This week's games

The Colts have owned this AFC South rivalry much of the time, having won the past five meetings. Of course, that's when they had a guy named Peyton Manning in the lineup.

Colts at Titans

• The Colts have owned this AFC South rivalry much of the time, having won the past five meetings. Of course, that’s when they had a guy named Peyton Manning in the lineup.

Saints at Rams

• The Saints are tied for the NFL lead with 27 touchdowns and are coming off a 62-point effort vs. Indy. The Rams are last in the league with five touchdowns. Do the math.

Jaguars at Texans

• The Texans took a big step toward the franchise’s first division title with a 41-7 thrashing of the Titans last week. But this game will show whether they are any better at handling success than they have been.

Dolphins at Giants

• This would be called getting no break. The Dolphins are coming off an improbable loss to the Broncos, having blown a 15-point lead with just minutes to play, and now face a road game vs. the NFC East leader, which is coming off a bye.

Vikings at Panthers

• There is tossing a rookie QB into the NFL pond and then there is making that rookie QB pull you through the waves. Panthers rookie QB Cam Newton is doing most of the pulling these days and is the first rookie passer in league history to have at least seven touchdowns both rushing and passing in his first seven starts.

Cardinals at Ravens

• After their offense took the night off at Jacksonville last Monday — a 12-7 loss — the Ravens get one of the league’s most accommodating defensive teams in the Cardinals, who have surrendered 17 touchdowns this season.

Lions at Broncos

• The Lions, coming off consecutive losses after a 5-0 start, will find themselves in the eye of Tebow-mania. This is QB Tim Tebow’s first home start of the season, and he’ll face the Lions’ hard-charging defense without the benefit of the Broncos’ most productive RB, Willis McGahee (broken right hand). Denver must find a way to run the ball to slow down the Lions’ rush, and the difference will be how Tebow adjusts this week and beyond to defenses constructing game plans to stop him. The Dolphins sacked Tebow six times, and the Lions figure to come hard, as well. Detroit has a powerful inside rusher (Ndamukong Suh) to go with an active outside rusher (Kyle Vanden Bosch).

Redskins vs. Bills

• The Redskins benched QB Rex Grossman before last week’s game, then lost their top RB when Tim Hightower suffered a season-ending injury. But coach Mike Shanahan’s biggest issue will be slowing down a Buffalo offense that averages 6.1 yards per play. The Bills lead the AFC in scoring at 31.3 points per game, and only the Bengals and Giants have held them to fewer than 30 points this season.

Patriots at Steelers

• The Steelers, who haven’t been up to their usual top-shelf standards in run defense this season, still have the league’s No.?1 pass defense. They face the league’s No.?1 passing offense in the Patriots (350.4 per game). With a win, Patriots coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady will pass Don Shula and Dan Marino of Miami for most wins by a coach-quarterback combination in NFL history. The difference will be whether the Steelers can create turnovers. They are an uncharacteristic minus-9 in turnover margin this season — last in the league.

Cowboys at Eagles

• The league’s No.?1 run defense — Dallas, allowing just 69.7 yards per game — gets a crack at the Eagles’ No.?1 run game. Eagles coach Andy Reid has taken plenty of heat over the years for being too pass-happy, especially down the stretch or in the postseason. But the Eagles are over 1,000 yards rushing after six games — an average of 170 yards per game. Dallas QB Tony Romo has taken criticism from the home fans, which might be why he plays well on the road. In his past 10 road games, Romo has averaged 303.1 yards passing and thrown for 17 TDs with six interceptions.

Chargers at Chiefs

• When October began, the Chiefs were 0-3, stagnant on offense and leaky on defense. Coach Todd Haley found the right spark, though, and KC has won three straight. By beating the enigmatic Chargers, the Chiefs will be tied atop the AFC West with San Diego and idle Oakland.

— The Denver Post, Associated Press

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